Institute For The Future

A new player in the online health care marketplace

Courtesy of my colleague, IFTF Research Affiliate Richard Adler:

American Well is a new company that is creating a "online healthcare marketplace." On its website (www.americanwell.com), it states that consumers can,

 

"Talk to a doctor anytime, without leaving home or scheduling an appointment. Choose from a variety of specialties and connect with the doctor who is right for you."

 

I checked out the website and noticed that American Well is partnering with Microsoft's HealthVault, the online personal health record platform. An exec in the Health Solutions Group at Microsoft is quoted in a press release as saying, "At the heart of this strategic collaboration is the understanding that personal health information becomes truly meaningful when consumers and providers can use it in the process of actual care.”

So consumers will be able to collect their health information in HealthVault, and then use it "to drive online consultations with providers on the American Well system." The Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Hawaii) last month announced plans to be the first health plan in the nation to offer the integrated solution to all Hawaii esidents.

 

Credentialed physicians who are already part of the HMSA network will be able to make themselves available, at their discretion, for online and phone consultations with plan members as well as other consumers. This on-demand interaction between consumers and providers will be under advisement of consumers’ care coordinator, namely their primary care physician.

 

According to a Wall Street Journal HealthBlog post about the HMSA announcement, American Well's business model centers on partnering with insurers, who agree to reimburse

in-network doctors for patient e-visits.

 

The visits are reimbursed through relatively new standardized billing codes that allow docs to get paid for electronic visits. The insurer pays the doc, and American Well takes a cut. The company also charges an up-front licensing fee.

Doctors make about $40 for a 10 minute consult. The rate can vary — specialists may cost more, and the price may rise after hours or if a patient wants an immediate consult rather than wait a few hours. It’s up to the insurer to set the parameters on what’s reimbursed and what the patient pays out of pocket, but the basic idea is for patients to be on the hook for their regular co-pay.

 

It will be interesting to see how the relationship between American Well and HMSA plays out, and whether consumers really start to incorporate the HealthVault into the management of their health care.